There have been a lot of rumours floating around about who The Moodswingers are. Lots of speculation, lots of hints and teasers. So tonight is a bit of a scoop for the Waterloo, because the one thing we do know is that this is a secret gig and therefore the Waterloo has been chosen for a world first, even if we don’t know exactly who will be playing it! But more of that later…. 

First we have the raucous punk of Dirt Box Disco to bop to. Hard to believe that his band will be celebrating their 25th anniversary next year but it’s true, for 24 years and seven albums DBD have been playing their gloriously silly songs to crowds of all sizes. Tonight the Waterloo is rammed, and from the moment I realise that the second song is called ‘Punk Rock & Porno’ and that the lead singer is wearing Superman underpants and a black and orange balaclava I know that this is not going to be your ordinary support band set. This stupid band play stupid songs but that is part of their charm. What better way to switch off after a long day at work than by watching a bloke in an ARP helmet and face paint play 3 chords in a song called ‘Cinderella’s Motorhead Tattoo’? So that’s what Dirt Box Disco do. They play simple songs with daft singalong choruses, but they do it with big grins (probably – hard to tell with the balaclava!) and their tongues firmly in their cheeks. It’s Carry On humour, I mean when your signature tune is ‘Up The Dirt Box’ it’s pretty hard to keep a straight face to be fair. So the drums go bum titty bum bum and the guitar lacks complexity and the bass seems a little scared to use more than one string and the vocals are more enthusiastic than tuneful but so what? It’s pure entertainment, the crowd are loving it and it’s a fantastic warm-up for what’s to come. Up the Dirtbox indeed! 

Quick changeover and the lights dim to the strains of ‘We’ll Meet Again’. The crowd holds its breath. The stage is in gloom as the mysterious Moodswingers take to the stage and start their first song, ‘Sleepaway’. Woohoo, it seems the rumours were true. Following a loud and proud version of ‘Diagnosis’ we are assured by Ginger Wildheart that this is definitely The Moodswingers and not The Wildhearts, but they might play a lot of Wildhearts songs. Ahem! So who actually are The Moodswingers then? Well the frontman is the aforementioned Ginger Wildheart. To his left is “Random” Jon Poole, ex-Wildheart. To his right is Ben Marsden, current guitarist for Warner E Hodges and occasional guitar tech for Ginger. Behind the kit is Pontus Snibb from Bonafide. You may therefore have noticed that The Moodswingers lineup just happens to be the same as the current revitalised and reformed lineup of The Wildhearts, but I’m sure that’s just a coincidence. After all, we have come out tonight to support a new band on the scene, not to attend a secret warm-up gig before the official launch of The (new) Wildhearts later this week, right? RIGHT?! 

So with that out of the way, lets get down to it and enjoy the show shall we? It’s rammed with Wildhearts standards so the next three songs are ‘Suckerpunch’, ‘I Wanna Go’ and ‘Caffeine Bomb’. This gives us chance to assess what the new Wildhearts lineup may sound like, and it’s not at all bad. We are of course used to Random being by Ginger’s side, he was in the band for around 10 years don’t forget so he already knows his stuff. The big question then is how will young Ben fare stepping into the boots so recently vacated by CJ? Well the boy done good. He plays a different guitar and has his own rather more flamboyant style, his vocals are well up to scratch and despite a little nervousness to start with he is soon throwing shapes and owning his little patch of stage like he’s been doing it forever. Hey, this is turning out to be some tribute act!  

A couple of more deep Wildhearts cuts are offered in the shape of ‘Slaughtered Authors’ and ‘The Jackson Whites’, both sounding pretty good to these ears and proving that if you write a good song it still sounds good even if you’re not that used to hearing it. Naturally it’s then time to go back to the “hits” though, and ‘Mazel Tov Cocktail’ and ‘Vanilla Radio’ are received with enthusiasm by the baying crowd. The familiar washes over us like a wave, we sing along and the wave bounces back to the stage re-energising the band and making the close confines of the venue start to become a bit of a sweatbox. A new song follows – ‘Eventually’ is a typical Ginger song with all his trademark catchy riffs and tempo changes. I can’t wait to hear this one played by the actual Wildhearts (wink, wink!) More standards are aired, it seems Ginger’s voice is a little strained now but the crowd don’t care. This is their man, their band, their venue, their songs and the massed yell of FUCK IT in ‘Everlone’ shakes the very foundations of the Waterloo. ‘Hurt People’ is the closest Mr W comes to a ballad, and the emotion in his voice as his words spill out is palpable. For this one the crowd is silent, awestruck by the power in a song that is mostly voice and that grips the heart like a vice and squeezes all the feelings out of it. ‘Chutzpah’ and ‘Caprice’ close the show, each sounding just as good as the originals. 

For the encore (not on the setlist) they chose to just casually chuck ‘Greetings From Shitsville’ and ‘Sick of Drugs’ at us and once again the crowd erupts into a boiling mass of punching arms, nodding heads and dancing feet. Boiling literally, it’s like an oven in here by now and as the sweat pours off the crowd, the band and the walls they take their bows and leave the stage to rapturous applause.  

I have only this to say. If The Moodswingers can play The Wildhearts songs this well, can you just imagine what the new Wildhearts are going to do?  

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
The Moodswingers